Exodus 5

Chapter 5. The Revelation of Grace in ExodusWe have already seen that the story of Israel’s redemption was designed to prefigure the plan of redemption and the grace of God which brings salvation to all men. But now, after the revelation of the law, we have a much fuller development of the principles of the gospel and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in meeting the conscious need which the law reveals, and fulfilling its righteousness in our hearts and lives.

Section I: The Mediation of Moses

Section I—The Mediation of MosesExo_20:19-21; Exodus 32:30-35; Exodus 33:1-17Even amid the terrors of Sinai, we behold the beautiful illustration of the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the intercession of Moses between God and the terrified people. “Speak to us yourself,” they cried to Moses. “But do not have God speak to us or we will die” (Exodus 20:19). In great condescension God grants their request, and so Moses enters into the thick darkness and fire, and becomes the medium of communication between God and His sinful people, and the great type of a greater Daysman who dwells amid the glories of God’s ineffable holiness, and yet meets us in our own humanity as a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God. Their Sin This character is maintained by Moses, not only in the covenant of the law, but again throughout the period of their wilderness life. Most beautifully does it appear in the dark and awful hour when the people broke their covenant, and turned the sacred scenes where God had manifested His presence into a place of idolatrous revelry; provoking, at first, their meek and gentle leader even to break the very tables of the covenant in his haste and displeasure, and for a time threatening to turn away the presence of God altogether from their midst. Then it is that the depth and strength of his character shine out with a grandeur which only finds its parallel in the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Throwing himself on his face before God, he cries, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written” (Exodus 32:31-32). And as Jehovah for a little reserves His forgiveness, and speaks of sending an angel instead of His own personal presence before His rebellious people, the faithful intercessor ventures to plead again: “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways… Remember that this nation is your people…. If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth” (Exodus 33:13, Exodus 33:15-16). His prayer prevails, and the promise is renewed. Their Second Failure Yet again is their sin repeated in the 14th chapter of Numbers, when the unbelief of the spies and the congregation holds them back from entering the land of Canaan at Kadesh Barnea, and the Lord is again provoked to cut them off in His wrath. Once more the faithful intercessor is on his face before God, crying: “‘In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.’ The Lord replied, ‘I have forgiven them, as you asked’” (Numbers 14:19-20). So for us the Lord Jesus ministers before the throne, and therefore “he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Section II: The Altar of Earth

Section II—The Altar of EarthExo_20:24-26At the foot of Sinai, and in the chapter which records the giving of the law, we find this beautiful provision for the frailty and sin of the covenant people, and for the very transgressors who were so soon to break that law, and need its blessed atonement. “Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it” (Exodus 20:24-26). How simple, how full of Jesus is all this. Of Earth It was to be an altar of earth, which the poorest could erect, and for which the materials could be found in any spot, however remote from the Tabernacle or the mount. So Christ needs no costly offering from the helpless sinner, but anywhere, and everywhere, whosoever will, may come boldly to the throne of grace. If it should be more convenient to make an altar of stone, it should not be of hewn stone, teaching us that no work of our own righteousness is needed to justify the soul, or will be suffered to mingle with the righteousness of Christ. No Tool If we lift up our tool upon that finished work, we have polluted it. “To the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). No Steps And then, most beautiful of all, there were no steps to this altar. It is not above the level of the humblest and most desperate sinner. It needs no wrought up condition of feeling or merit to bring us into saving contact with Jesus Christ. We need not say in our heart, “‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down)” (Exodus 10:6). We need not wait until we have raised ourselves to the highest morality or religious feeling, but He meets us on our level, and saves us as we are, in the fullness of His all-sufficient grace. Indeed, the moment we try to get up to the highest place of personal merit, or self-effort, we only show our nakedness. The process of salvation is a going down, and the condition of mercy is to come at last where we actually accept Him as the Author and Finisher of our faith. Blessed altar of earth! Blessed type of Calvary, sweetly proclaiming, “Whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17).

Section III: The Ordinance of the Hebrew Servant

Section III—The Ordinance of the Hebrew ServantExo_21:5-6"But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life" (Exodus 21:5-6). This is also a beautiful type of the mediatorial and redeeming work of Christ. This servant might have claimed his freedom and enjoyed it alone. But his wife and children were still in bondage, and he refused to go free until he could also claim their liberty. He was also attached to his master, and unwilling to leave him. He was allowed, therefore, by the Hebrew law, to return to bondage, and consecrate himself anew to his master’s service, and share the lot of his family, by the second ceremony of boring his ear, and fastening him by it to the door post of his master’s house, in token of perpetual servitude. The word of God has not left us in any doubt about the meaning of this type. In Psalms 40:6, it is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s Servant, who might have retained His freedom from suffering and humiliation. But He, for His Father’s honor, and for the sake of His Bride, the Church, stooped to the place of subjection and indignity; undertook the fearful task of procuring our redemption; gave Himself joyfully to do the will of God as a servant; shared in the fullest measure the bondage and suffering of His beloved people; and has saved us forever from the servitude of sin and the miseries of our lost estate.

Section IV: The Blood of the Covenant

Section IV—The Blood of the CovenantExo_24:4-11A few days after the giving of the law at Sinai, God enters into covenant with His people by a series of beautiful and significant rites. The scene stands in striking contrast with Sinai and its terrors. And the one secret of all the difference is that the blood is the ground of acceptance and communion, and the token and seal of the covenant that is now ratified. Accompanied by Aaron and his sons and the 70 elders of Israel, Moses again approaches Mount Sinai, in the presence of the assembled people. The covenant is solemnly proclaimed in their hearing and written down by the hand of Moses, and then the altar is built under the hill, and sacrifices of burnt offerings and peace offerings solemnly presented before the Lord. The blood of the victims is carefully gathered in basins; one-half is sprinkled on the altar and the rest upon the people. The Twofold Action The significance of this twofold action concerning the blood cannot be too carefully marked and remembered. The blood which was poured upon the altar represents the death of Christ for our sins. Blood is ever a token of life in the Old Testament, and so the blood poured upon the altar is the life of Christ poured out for man. But the other half of the blood preserved in basins and then sprinkled upon the people, represents something very different, namely, the resurrection life of Christ and the continued efficacy of His intercession and indwelling to sanctify and keep us in fellowship with God, and enable us to fulfill the divine covenant. The shed blood is the death on Calvary. The sprinkled blood is the resurrection life of Christ, shed abroad in our hearts, and so cleansing, sanctifying, and sustaining our spiritual life. The one is His life for us, the other His life in us. Fellowship Next, notice the effect of this offering and application of the blood. They were at once brought into the immediate presence and fellowship of God, as we are brought nigh by the blood of Christ. They “saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, dear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank” (Exodus 24:10-11). There is no vengeance, for sin is out of sight. There is no cloud, but all is clear as the sapphire heaven, for He has blotted out as a thick cloud all their transgressions. There is the vision of His presence, the fellowship of His love, and the very feast of His glorious provision. So we have boldness by the blood of Jesus to enter into the holiest of all. So we may receive the new covenant in His blood. So we may sing “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6).

Section V: The Tabernacle

Section V—The TabernacleExodus 25-26"The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give…. Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you’" (Exodus 25:1-2, Exodus 25:8-9). This is the grandest of all the Old Testament types of Christ. It is all one great object lesson of spiritual truth. In its wonderful furniture, priesthood and worship, we see with a vividness that we find nowhere else, the glory and grace of Jesus and the privileges of His redeemed people. And as in the architect’s plan we can understand the future building better, even than by looking at the building without the plan. So, in this pattern from the mount, we can understand as nowhere else, that glorious temple of which Christ is the cornerstone, and we also, as living stones, are built up in Him “a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). The Form and Structure of the TabernacleIt was an oblong structure, about 45 feet long and 15 feet wide and high; very similar in size and proportions to the double parlors of an ordinary dwelling house. It was constructed of boards of shittim wood, a peculiarly indestructible material, overlaid with gold, and fastened with sockets and tenons of silver, brass, etc. It was covered with three tiers of skins, and a final interior lining of most costly curtains, embroidered and adorned with symbolical figures of the highest beauty and spiritual significance. The external covering of the roof was of rough sea cows’ skins, to protect it from the inclemency of the weather. The exact form of the roof is a matter of dispute, some believing it to have been pitched at an angle, and some an arched or a fiat surface. The Holy of Holies The Tabernacle itself was divided into two unequal chambers by magnificent curtains called The Veil The inner chamber was a perfect cube, 15 feet square. It contained the ark of the covenant, over which was the mercy seat, which was its lid, and consisted of a solid plate of gold. Then, springing from this, and formed of the same piece of solid gold, hovered the cherubim, symbolical figures representing the faces of the four typical forms of the animate creation—the man, the ox, the eagle and the lion. Between the meeting wings of the cherubic figure shone the Shekinah, or visible divine glory, the luminous cloud of transcendent brightness, which, perhaps, arose and expanded into the pillar of cloud and fire that hovered above the Tabernacle, and led the march of Israel. This chamber was the Holy of Holies, God’s especial presence chamber and throne of grace and glory. None ever entered it except the high priest, and he only once a year. The Holy Place The other division was twice as large, 15 feet by 30, and was called the Holy Place. It was open to the ministering priests only, but not to the common people, and it was separated from the outer court by The Door, a curtain, also of blue, purple and scarlet, which none but cleansed and consecrated priests might pass. Its articles of furniture were: the golden lampstand, which was its only light, there being no windows at all; the table of the bread of the Presence, covered with 12 loaves, crowned with pure frankincense, which were offered to God for one week, and then eaten by the priests, and renewed from Sabbath to Sabbath; and the golden altar of incense, with its accompanying censer, where pure frankincense was continually offered, and from which, once a year, on the great Day of Atonement, the high priest with the golden censer took burning coals and smoking incense in his hands, passed through the mysterious Veil, entered alone the Holy of Holies, and there made atonement for the people in the immediate presence of God. The Court Surrounding the Tabernacle was another court, an enclosure 87 by 175 feet, with an opening on the eastern side called The Gate. Into this court all the people might come. Two objects of ceremonial worship stood here. Near the gate was the brazen altar of burnt offering. Here the sacrifices of burnt offering were presented, the blood sprinkled and the fire kept ever burning, from which the altar of incense was supplied. All parts of the Tabernacle had to be sprinkled with blood from this altar. It was the only way of access to the presence of God. Farther in was the bronze laver, a vast basin, perhaps with polished exterior, forming thus a mirror as well as a fountain, made from the metal mirrors of the women of Israel, and so enabling the priests at once to see their uncleanness in the metal, and then to wash it away in the water which it contained. It was for the purification of the priests as they entered the sanctuary, and no one could pass through the door until he had washed in this fountain. The gate of the enclosure was always open. It had no hangings, like the two inner doors. All might freely come into His courts and bring their offerings for sin and uncleanness. Outside the Camp Outside the gate was the camp of Israel, forming a square around the Tabernacle of vast extent, three tribes on each side, the tribe of Judah being on the east, opposite to the entrance of the Tabernacle gate. And just beyond, still farther out, there continually burned the fire outside the camp, where the bodies of the sin offerings were consumed, and also the refuse of the camp. Such was this simple and wonderful structure, God’s first sanctuary, and the type of all that is sacred and precious in the person and work of Christ, and the privileges of our heavenly calling. The Erection and Subsequent History of the TabernaclePlannedFirst, we have the Tabernacle as it was planned in heaven, and shown to Moses on the mount as a pattern (Exodus 25-31). This is the type of Christ set forth from eternity in the counsels of divine love, our Redeemer prepared for us from before the foundation of the world, and revealed in successive types and prophecies long before His actual incarnation and life on earth. Moses built the Tabernacle according to an actual model which God had shown him during the 40 days on the mount. So Christ was born, lived and died, in exact accordance with the prophetic picture of previous ages of revelation. Interrupted Then, in Exodus, there is the dark interval of sorrow and rebellion (chapters 32 and 33), during which the people transgressed the covenant they had just entered into, and showed most painfully the need of the salvation which God had just been preparing. This is the type of man’s fall and his failure under the Old Dispensation. Christ had been already provided, but man must feel the need of the divine salvation, by the actual experience of sin. It is touching beyond degree to know that all the time that man was rebelling against his God, God’s remedy was waiting in that mount of grace. Built Then, in chapter 34, we come to the second stage in the history of the Tabernacle, its actual erection according to the divine plan already shown, and through the freewill offerings of the people, and the skill and workmanship of the men whom God had specially endued for this purpose. Two men were particularly called and qualified by the gifts of the Holy Spirit in sacred art to originate and execute all its symbolic decorations; and the women of Israel were similarly prepared and enabled to make ready its costly materials. So its entire erection was through the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as the divine plan which was revealed to Moses. Its History During the 40 years of their wilderness life it was borne from place to place in succession by the faithful hands of the Levites, who were appointed for this special ministry. After their entrance into Canaan, it remained for a time at Gilgal, and afterward was established at Shiloh, which became the religious center of the national worship for a long time. During the period of the Judges we lose sight of it for a season through the subjugation and humiliation of Israel. But we find it afterward in Nob, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, in the reign of David. And finally it was established on Mount Zion through the piety of this good king, where it remained until superseded by the more magnificent Temple of Solomon, which was, however, only a more splendid edition of the same building, containing all the essential features of the Tabernacle, only adding a higher degree of splendor, and so typifying the future glories as the Tabernacle typifies the grace of Christ and His redemption. Spiritual and Typical Significance of the TabernacleIt was designed to represent and prefigure the most important teachings of the Scriptures with reference, first, to Christ, secondly, to the Church and thirdly, to the individual Christian. In these three aspects we shall briefly consider it. A Type of Christ First: The Tabernacle as a Type of Christ. The very word “tabernacle” is used with reference to Him in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Exodus 1:14). The Greek word for “made his dwelling” is connected with the word for “tenttabernacle.” Again, in the ninth chapter of Hebrews, the apostle, after describing the structure of the ancient sanctuary, applies it all to the person and work of Christ. The points of comparison are almost unlimited. Among them may be mentioned: (a) The location of the Tabernacle, which was entered from the camp of Judah, suggests the fact that Christ was born of the tribe of Judah. (b) The materials of which the Tabernacle was constructed, namely, indestructible wood and pure gold, suggest His perfect humanity on the one hand, and His supreme divinity on the other. (c) The colors which were so constantly mingled in the Tabernacle, especially the prevailing hues of white, blue, scarlet and purple, all point to qualities in Him: the white, His spotless purity; the blue, His heavenly origin; the scarlet, His sufferings and death; and the purple, His kingly glory. (d) The external plainness in contrast with the internal glory of the Tabernacle; the sea cows’ skins without, and the gold and Shekinah glory within, proclaim the lowliness of Christ’s earthly state, and yet the beauty and glory of His character and inner presence, as He reveals Himself to the soul that abides in Him. (e) The contrast between the Tabernacle and the Temple, the one a shifting tent, exposed to constant vicissitude and humiliation and the other combining in itself all the glory of earth and heaven, suggests to us: first, the earthly life of our Lord; and second, His exaltation and the kingly glory of His millennial reign. (f) Because the Tabernacle was the place of God’s manifestation of Himself to Israel, and the place where He revealed the symbols of His immediate presence, it reminds us of Him who is Himself the image and manifestation of God, and whose very name, Immanuel, means “God with us.” (g) The Tabernacle was God’s meeting-place with Israel. “There, above the cover between the two cherubim… I will meet with you” (Exodus 25:22), were His own words; and there they heard the voice of God speaking from between the cherubim. And so the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way of access to the Father, and fellowship with heaven. “If anyone loves me,… My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). (h) The Tabernacle was the place of sacrifice. Its most vivid spectacle was the flowing and the sprinkled blood, and it tells us in every part of the sacrifice of Christ. (i) Not only was it the place of sacrifice, but also the place of cleansing; the blood atoned and the water washed away the stain of defilement. So Christ is the Fountain for sin and for uncleanness. He “gave himself up for her [the Church] to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27). (j) The Tabernacle was the place where the guilty might freely come to the altar of atonement; and Jesus Christ is the propitiation not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world. (k) The Tabernacle had inner chambers. And so it speaks of the deeper life, and the fuller blessings into which those may enter who are willing to abide in Christ. “I am the gate” (John 10:9), He says, and “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). He is our Life, our Bread, our Light, our Altar of prayer, our Open Veil of access even to the innermost presence of the holy God. (1) The Tabernacle was the place where the law was enshrined in the bosom of the ark, and ever covered by the sprinkled blood which proclaimed the sinner’s acceptance. So Jesus keeps for us the divine law; then keeps it also in us, by His indwelling life and presence, and so becomes our perfect righteousness, (m) The cherubim of glory in the Holy of Holies were types of Christ’s exalted glory; of His humanity, crowned with the strength of the ox, the majesty of the lion and the loftiness of the eagle’s flight. All this is the pledge of our future glory. All this and much more we see in this ancient object lesson concerning Him of whom Moses and the prophets did write, and which He has come Himself to fulfill, with a fullness which He will yet enable us more fully to understand in every detail respecting this pattern in the mount. A Type of the Church Second: The Tabernacle as a Type of the Church. That which is true of Christ the Head, is also true of His body, the Church. Among other points of instruction which the Tabernacle suggests in this connection, it may be noticed: (a) Like the Tabernacle, the Church has been planned by God Himself, and is in no sense a human institution. It should in every respect be organized, constituted, built up and equipped according to the pattern which Christ has shown us Himself, “Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). (b) The Church requires the same divine anointing through the Holy Spirit, on the part of all who, like Bezalel and Oholiab, are engaged in her spiritual upbuilding. Not the gifts of intellectual brilliancy, but the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and the enduement of His power; these alone can accomplish definite and eternal results, and all else will wither and drift away in the fiery blasts of the great ordeal. (c) The Church, like the ancient Tabernacle, should have her chief beauty within; not in costly decorations, but in the glory of the indwelling God and the exhibition of a crucified and sin-cleansing Savior. Without this she can only be what Israel’s temple was when the Master and the Shekinah departed, and the avengers came with fire and blood. Without this His word can only be, “your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:38), or, as it was to the Church of the Laodiceans, “Because you are… neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). (d) Like the ancient Tabernacle, the Church should have her inner chambers for deeper teaching and closer fellowship in the holy place, in the light of the sevenfold lamp of truth, and at the table of the heavenly bread; while the sweet fragrance from the golden altar fills all the place with the breath of heaven, and the rent veil just beyond reveals and opens up to her vision even the innermost chambers of heaven itself, from which ever shines the Shekinah of His abiding presence. (e) Like the ancient Tabernacle, the Church should be the repository of the world’s true light and living bread, the light of the world and the stewardess of the mysteries of God. (f) Like the ancient Tabernacle and Temple, the Church has her earthly and her heavenly life, the time of desert wandering and vicissitude, but the prospect also of a glory greater than that of Solomon’s temple, when the Lamb shall gather His redeemed on Mount Zion, and the universe shall come to gaze on the glories of the New Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. A Type of Christian Life Third: The Tabernacle as the Type of Christian Life. What is true of Christ, is true in our individual measure of each one of His people. “In this world, we are like him” (1 John 4:17). Let us not fear, therefore, to claim the fullness of our great salvation. Condemnation The first chapter in every Christian’s existence is the dark, sad chapter of condemnation. This was vividly set forth in the ancient camp of Israel by the fire that ever burned outside the camp, suggesting the wrath of God revealed from heaven on all unrighteousness of men. That fire consumed the offering to which sin had been transferred, and it must likewise consume all whose sins are not transferred to that burnt offering. If He, in the place of the sinner, suffered this vengeance, how shall we escape if we dare to stand before God covered with our guilt and corruption? “For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:31). Our Lord has not quenched this fire, but left it still burning outside the gate of the gospel for all who reject Him. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18). Salvation The next stage in the believer’s life is salvation. So we now enter the gate and stand within the court. We may freely come. There is no barrier, not even the fold of a curtain, intervening. We hasten through the inviting entrance, and stand before the smoking altar which tells us of the cross and the blood through which we have redemption from sin. We place our hand upon the head of the sacrifice, and we become partakers of the great expiation. Next, the laver speaks to us of the Holy Ghost, whose power regenerates and cleanses the soul from sin. We wash in its fountain, and are qualified and authorized to enter into the inner presence, and into the more intimate fellowship of the Holy Place. Sanctification The Tabernacle also tells us of the next stage of Christian experience and life—communion, consecration, sanctification and abiding fellowship with Christ. That inner chamber just beyond the open court is only for God’s priests. How, then, may we dare to intrude? Thank God, we are all admitted to the place of priesthood, if we will accept it. He “loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God” (Revelation 1:5-6). Not a few, now, but all are “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). So we may boldly enter in, but not until we have washed in that cleansing laver, as well as sacrificed at the altar. We must accept His sanctifying as well as justifying grace. Even to Peter, who had been “bathed,” that is, justified, Christ said: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13:8). Although we have boldness by the blood of Jesus even to enter into the holiest, yet we must come with “hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22). Thus, divinely cleansed, “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Exodus 10:22). Our great High Priest is standing within, and sweetly saying, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). What pasture! There is the sevenfold lamp which speaks of Christ and the Holy Spirit: our perfect Light; the light of truth; the light which reveals Himself; the light of heavenly vision; the light which brings sight as well as light to our dull eyes; the light of guidance and direction amid the perplexities of life; His own continual presence and voice as the Shepherd as well as the Door, and the light which will shine through us and from us as the light of men. Next the Tabernacle tells of the living bread; the table with its 12 loaves, one for each of us, made from the finest of the wheat, ever renewed with each returning Sabbath. Not only bread, but frankincense like honey out of the rock; all the sweetness of His consolations as well as the strength of His life; bread that nourishes both soul and body, and becomes our perfect life and sustenance. Then, not only is there the bread, but all that is implied in the altar of incense. This includes all that is involved in a life of prayer and communion with God, through Jesus Christ. That incense, together with the anointing oil, was the most sacred thing in all the Tabernacle service. It might not be imitated by mortal art, but was consecrated sacredly for the service of God alone. It was compounded of many ingredients; and some of it, we are told, was beaten very small, and then was burned with sweet spices on that pure altar (Exodus 30:34-38). So that spirit of prayer must be born from above, and cannot be imitated or counterfeited by merely human effort. It springs from the combination of all the circumstances of life and qualities of our Christian character. It is the flower of piety, and the fragrance of the heart; distilled like perfume, indescribably delicate, pure, and heavenly. Nothing is too small to enter into it, and become an occasion for it. The incense of prayer may be beaten very small, and arise from a thousand trifles in our life which we may so consecrate to God as to become a sacrifice of sweet smelling savor. Our little trials and trifling ministries, laid on this golden altar, become to Him like the fragrance of spring and the breath of Aaron’s censer; and He treasures them in heaven in “bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8). But in order to be divinely fragrant, they must be set on fire by the Holy Ghost, the true Intercessor and Advocate on earth, as Christ is the Advocate on high, making intercession “for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26). The sweet incense of the holy place penetrated through the veil and filled the Holy of Holies. So the spirit of prayer makes both earth and heaven one. The altar stood at the very entrance to the inner chamber; and so when we are rapt in fellowship with God, we are at the gate of heaven and almost within the veil. We can hear the voices and catch the breath from those inner chambers. Happy are they who thus abide in Him, in the atmosphere of ceaseless communion and peace. The most trying place will be fragrant, like odors of heaven, and the most lonely spot a little sanctuary where all heaven will seem to be around us with its almighty protection, its blessed companionship, and its unspeakable joy. Glory The innermost chamber in the Hebrew Tabernacle was the Holy of Holies. It speaks to us of heaven itself, the immediate presence of God, and the glory which awaits us at His coming or our translation within the gates. It tells us of a heaven not far off and shut from our vision, but near and open. The veil is rent in twain from top to bottom, and the Holy of Holies sheds its light and glory all round us even here, so that translation itself is scarcely a change of companionship, although it may be of location. That inner chamber tells us of the place where our prayers can enter now in sweet incense, and be accepted in His name. Our eyes can look through the veil and see heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. There the sprinkled blood on the mercy seat is ever pleading for us, and claiming our perfect and perpetual acceptance. There the ark within the veil, with the unbroken law within its bosom, is the symbol of the perfect righteousness which we share with Him, and in which we stand accepted in Him, even in the immediate presence of God. There the cherubim of glory are the patterns of the dignity and royalty which our redeemed humanity has already attained in Christ, its illustrious Head, and which we shall share in its fullness when He shall appear. As we look through, we know that our spirits, too, shall follow, and be with Him where He is. The feet that tremble and falter shall walk through the gates of day; and the very body of our humiliation shall be like Him when He shall appear, and shall be changed into the image of the body of his glory. And all this we have even here, not only in vision and prospect, but in foretaste. The holy to the holiest leads; To this our spirits rise, And he who in His footsteps treads Shall meet Him in the skies. Fourth: The Anointing of the Tabernacle. After the Tabernacle had been fully completed, according to all the pattern shown on the mount, it was solemnly dedicated to God, and the entire tent and its furniture were anointed with oil, specially prepared according to the divine prescription, and consecrated to this exclusive purpose, and then the manifestation of the Divine Presence appeared upon it. The pillar of cloud spread its curtains above it, and the Shekinah glory took its place between the cherubim and filled the tent so effulgently that even Moses was not able to enter the holy place. Moses had simply and perfectly obeyed God’s directions, and now God accepted his work, and put His seal upon it. This was symbolical of the anointing of Jesus Christ with the Holy Ghost, and of the same anointing which comes upon every consecrated heart when it has obeyed the divine directions, and presented itself a living sacrifice to God. God will so fill such a soul that there shall be no room for self and sin. This, indeed, is the true secret of sanctification and self-crucifixion. The expulsive power of the Holy Ghost and the Divine Presence are the only true antidotes to the power of self and Satan. Henceforth the Tabernacle becomes the seat and center of the divine manifestation. We thus observe three stages of the manifested presence of God in Exodus, namely: First, the pillar of cloud and fire that went before; next, the presence from the mount; and now, the presence of Jehovah in the Tabernacle. We trace the same three stages in the Old Testament: First, the Spirit of God as manifested in the patriarchal dispensation; secondly, the revelation of God under the law; and thirdly, the revelation of God in Christ, the true Tabernacle. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Hence we find God in the very first verse of Leviticus, speaking to Moses no longer out of the mount or cloud, but out of the Tabernacle. So we may find in Christ the continual presence and guidance of our covenant God. “If anyone loves me,” Christ says, “he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). Let us only do what Moses did, yield ourselves fully and implicitly to the divine will, hand ourselves over as the property of Christ, and we shall also be possessed and filled with a glory as divine as the Shekinah, and as enduring as the life and love of God (Exodus 40). Henceforth this event, the setting up and anointing of the Tabernacle, becomes a landmark of time. It was to begin the second year of their national history and was on the first day of the first month. The first year had begun with the Passover, but this forms the next great era of their existence. And so the moment when the soul is dedicated and anointed by the Holy Ghost is an eternal era in its history, as important as the hour of its new birth; the beginning of months and years, from which all its experiences and hopes are henceforth measured. Have we entered upon this second year? Have we begun it, like them, with the sacrifice of our being in implicit obedience, on the altar of God? And have we received the descending fire, and the abiding Comforter henceforth to speak to us, not from the heavens, or even from the tables of stone, but from the inner chambers of His sanctuary in our hearts?

Section VI: The High Priest

Section VI—The High PriestExo_28:1-43The next great type of the gospel, unfolded in Exodus, and closely connected with the Tabernacle, is the ministry of the high priest, and his robes, functions and consecrations. These are described in detail in the very midst of the account of the Tabernacle, just after the description of the altar of burnt offering (Exodus 27), and before the description of the altar of incense and intercession, which comes in chapter 30. The place where the account of the high priest is introduced is very significant in connection with its typical import. It prefigures Jesus Christ as our great High Priest at the right hand of God in the heavens. And it is most natural and beautiful that it should be introduced just after the altar of burnt offering, which represents His sacrifice on Calvary, and just before the altar of incense which represents His intercession in heaven. It is not necessary to prove to any intelligent Christian that the Hebrew high priest was the special type of the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Mediator and Advocate with the Father. He is represented in this office with great frequency and fullness in the New Testament. The apostle calls us to “fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess” (Hebrews 3:1), and adds, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16). His person and work were prefigured by the functions, garments and consecration of Aaron.

1. His Functions (a) Reconciliation.—It was his province to deal with the question of sin, and settle it between God and the transgressor. It was his to take the sacrificial blood, and bringing it within the Holy of Holies as an atonement for the sins of the people, open the way between the guilty sinner and his offended God. This he did once in the year, and this he alone could do; no other dare enter that awful presence. So Christ has come to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, and to make reconciliation for the guilty. And so He “was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people” (Hebrews 9:28). “But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26). And “when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). It is Christ’s business and His alone, to deal with sin, and settle it for the sinner. No one but He can redeem us from sin, and reconcile us to God. We can do nothing about sin, but simply commit it to Him and leave it with Him. He has already offered the atoning blood, and opened the way into the holiest for all who come unto God by Him, and we may freely bring to Him our guilt and infirmities, for pardon and cleansing. How prone the heart is to keep away from Christ our burden of sin, and wait until we have somehow fitted ourselves by some sort of penance, reformation, or self-atonement. How foolish and useless! The very business of the priest is to receive sinners and put away sin. (b) Intercession.—The office of the high priest was not only to prefigure the complete atonement of Christ, but also to set forth His continual ministry of intercession for us at God’s right hand. It was his to carry the names of the congregation on his breast and shoulders, as a memorial before God; thus representing all their wants at the source of blessing, and claiming for them all the grace and help they needed. So Christ makes continual intercession for us. “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). He is represented as encompassed with infirmity, and instinctively sensitive to our suffering and need. His intercession is the ground of our continual acceptance, and the plea of all our effectual prayers. Coming in His name, we are accepted even as He is; and our very standing before the Father is the same as His own. He represents us as our Head, and holds for us the place which He is preparing as our eternal home. The incense of His perfect intercession mingles with our imperfect prayers, and brings back to us the fullness of the divine acceptance and blessing. (c) Benediction.—It was his privilege after he had made reconciliation and intercession for the people, to come forth and bless them in the name of the Lord, saying: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). And so our Great High Priest, when He had accomplished the work of reconciliation and presented His perfect offering to God, completed His ministry on earth by the same beautiful act of benediction. Having led them out as far as Bethany, “he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-51). The last sight the earth had of Jesus was with outstretched hands and parted lips, pronouncing blessings upon our heads. He is the Priest of blessing. The first word of His first sermon was “blessed”; the last utterance in the last book of the Bible is “blessed”; and the scroll of prophecy closes with this gracious benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen” (Revelation 22:21). In addition to these three great ministries of reconciliation, intercession and benediction, there are several other functions which seem to have belonged to the high priesthood. It was his to inspect and pronounce upon the leper, and cleanse him from his defilement. So Christ is our great Healer. His death released the one accused of murder in the cities of refuge (Numbers 35:25). And so Christ’s death released the prisoners of hope under the ancient dispensation and opens the gates of liberty and heaven to all true believers.
2. Garments of the High Priest These are described in full detail in Exodus 28 and were all symbolical. (a) His personal robes of pure white linen were typical of Christ’s sinless humanity (Exodus 28:39, Exodus 28:42). He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, and needed not to offer any sacrifice for Himself; but was perfectly qualified through His personal righteousness to be a substitute for the sins of others. (b) The ephod was made of blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen: the blue, telling of His heavenly origin; the purple, His royal dignity; and the scarlet, His sufferings and atoning work. Connected with the ephod were the shoulder plates which consisted of two onyx stones, each containing the names of six tribes of Israel, and borne continually on his shoulders, as a symbol of Christ’s upholding His people with all the strength of His omnipotence and love, unwearied with our weight, or even carrying our weakness with His everlasting might, even as the good Shepherd bare His lost lamb on His shoulders rejoicing. The government of the universe He bears on one shoulder; but He gives both to the upholding of His people. “Underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). (c) The breastplate was borne upon his breast, and contained 12 precious stones, set in gold, in which were engraved separately the names of all the tribes of Israel. The exquisite significance of this every consecrated heart knows by the most tender and thankful experience. It is the picture of Christ’s personal love and sympathy; not to His people collectively, but to each one of us individually. When it comes to His heart, each of us has a separate place. He does not love us by sixes or twelves, but one by one. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Our names are not written or painted upon His breast, but cut in imperishable lines, and in the living Rock. “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16). “Can a mother forget the baby…? Though she may forget, I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). The most precious jewels are the tokens of the value He sets upon us; not because of our intrinsic worth, for a jewel is in itself useless, but simply as an expression of affection altogether out of proportion to our utility or worthiness (Exodus 28:29). (d) The robe of blue which covered the person of the high priest was hung with bells and pomegranates. It was significant of His heavenly character, while the bells typified the sweet assurance which the Holy Spirit brings to our hearts, of the presence and intercession of our High Priest for us, on high; and the pomegranates signify the precious fruits which flow from His priestly work (Exodus 28:31-34). (e) The Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:30), two words which signify lights and perfections, are supposed to have been precious stones, which in some way, perhaps through their changing colors, gave intimation of the divine response to the inquiries of the priest respecting the will of God. They denote in the person and work of Christ the perfect righteousness and infinite wisdom which He imparts to those who trust Him. He becomes their wisdom and righteousness. (f) The golden waistband which bound together the flowing robes of the high priest was a symbol of the ceaseless ministry of our great High Priest, whose exalted glory at the Father’s right hand is not a selfish triumph, but a place of service. John beheld Him girded with the golden sash, engaged in a ceaseless activity on our behalf (Exodus 28:8; Revelation 1:13). (g) The turban of gold and blue, with its inscription on the brow of the high priest, was the crowning emblem of his symbolical robes. Not only on His shoulders and on His breast, but also on His brow, does Jesus carry His beloved people. Upon the plate of gold surmounting the high priest’s turban these words were inscribed: “HOLY TO THE Lord” (Exodus 28:36), and he was commanded to wear it continually when he went into the holy place, that he might bear the guilt of their holy things. What a wonderful way it was to bear their guilt, so that it was not only hidden from God’s sight, but so covered by the righteousness of the High Priest, that we appear in the sight of the Father, as “HOLY TO THE Lord.” “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life” (Romans 8:33-34). How wondrous those words in Jeremiah 23:6, “This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” But how much more wonderful the words in Jeremiah 33:16 : “This is the name by which [we] will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” We are covered with His righteousness, bear His very name, and so are accepted in the Beloved, and loved even as He is loved.
3. The Consecration of the High Priest (Exodus, and more fully, Leviticus, chapters 8 and 9) We shall refer more fully to this in its place in Leviticus. It is sufficient for the present, to observe that the consecration of Aaron and his sons was accompanied by all the offerings of the Levitical law, and by their anointing with oil as the symbol of their enduement with the power of the Holy Spirit. Then they were separated for seven days in the Tabernacle, and on the eighth day came forth to the people in connection with special sacrificial offerings when God appeared in glory. All this is symbolical of Christ’s setting apart to His great work, and its successive stages of development, ending at last with His second and glorious appearing; and also, of our partnership with Him in His priesthood, and in the glory of His second coming. The sons of Aaron represent the priesthood of Christians; while Aaron stands for Christ, our High Priest, and the Head of His priestly house. Have we understood all these things, and their marvelous pictures of grace and of Christ? Have we found our abiding place in that living Tabernacle, claimed our privileges as a holy priesthood, and received upon our heads the anointing oil and the priestly benediction? Oh, may we stand before the Lamb, When earth and seas are fled, And hear the Judge pronounce our names With blessings on our head.